Mycena cinerella (P. Karst.) P. Karst.

Gregarious among fallen leaves of deciduous
trees, and needles of coniferous trees in various habitats.
Widely distributed in Norway, also found in alpine sites. Late autumn. See The Norwegian Mycological Database.

Mycena cinerella is usually easy to determine on account of the terrestrial growth, greyish colours, broadly adnate to decurrent lamellae, and the mealy smell. Sometimes the cap can be very dark, almost black, but the farinaceous smell is nearly always strongly present.

According to Maas Geesteranus (1986b: 188) the 4-spored condition is probably the commonest form of M. cinerella in Europe. The holotype, however, has 2-spored basidia. Hintikka (1963) described the new species M. cineroides which was supposed to differ from M. cinerella by the combination of a narrowly acute pileus without any brownish or yellowish shades, far decurrent lamellae, and 2-spored basidia. Further studies have shown that there are all kinds of intermediate forms, and hence M. cineroides should be regarded as a synonym of M. cinerella. This view was supported by Maas Geesteranus (1991: 386) and Emmet et al. (2008: 366).

A quite aberrant form of M. cinerella was collected by this author. It might be a new and undescribed species but one collection is not enough for a formal description. See the description and discussion here.